William bbowi



ll'iith gitane latcat @fitta VILLIAM BROIVN, 0 F HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY.

Letters Patent Ido. 69,390, fla/@fl October l, 1867.

IMPROVEMENT IN RATGHET-BRAGES.

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TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

De it known that I, WILLIAM BROWN, of Hoboken, in the county of Hudson, and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Ratchet-Braces; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, making a portion of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a planv view of a ratchet-brace'constructed according to my invention, with the top plate removed to show the interior thereof.

Figure 2 is a partial vertical longitudinal section of the same.

Similailetters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both ligures.

This invention consists in the construction of'a ratchet-brace with a sphcricalratchet operated by a suitable stock and pawl, whereby the ratchet may be turned with the handle at any required angle to the spindle ofthe brace, thus enabling the said brace to be employed under various circumstances where it would be impossible to use one constructed in the ordinary manner.

The ratchet is shown at A, and is made of spherical shape, and formed in one piece with the spindle a, the radial teeth of the ratchet being arranged coneentrically thereon in a position longitudinal with that of the spindle a. A sleeve, Zi, is screwed upon the upper part of thef aforesaid spindle, and has formed upon its upper extremity a centre, a', the said sleeve being used when thebracc is used as a ratchet-drill for the purpose of feeding the drill to the work, thelower end of the spindle being furnished in the ordinary or any suitable manner with a socket for holding the drill or other article to be turned around. The stock of the brace is shown at 13, and has its outermost portion formed into a handle, Z1', while the opposite end .thereof is made of annular form, and furnished with a socket, e, the said inner or socketed end being divided longitudinally into two parts d c, the lower one, d, of which is made in one piece with the main portion of the stock B, while the upper part c constitutes atop plate, which holds the ratchet in its place, (as will be presently set fortln) and which is secured to the main portion of the stock by means of suitable screws or rivets. The inner sides or eircumferences of the socket@ are made concave, as shown more clearly in fig. 2, in such manner as to correspond to the convex circumference of the ratchet A, and thus retain thc said ratchet therein, the ratchet being placed in the socket previous to securing the top plate e to the other portion of the stock, as'hereinbefore explained. 3y this means the stock may bc moved ina different direction upon the ratchet to which it is thus attached in a manner similar to the movement allowed by a ball-and-socket joint. Formed longitudinally in the inner side of each of the -parts d c, and communicating with the interior of the annular socket c is a groove,f, the said groove being s0 situated that when the top plate is secured in place, as hcreinbeforc described, they will conjointly constitute a longitudinal recess for the reception of the sliding pawl g, the forward end of which gears into the ratchet A, and for the reception of thc. spiral spring /i situated behind the pa-wl g, and operating to push the aforesaid pawl forward into gear with the ratchet, as aforesaid. By these means when the stock I3 is turned in one direction the pawl will act upon the teeth of the ratchet to turn the same, while, when moved in an opposite direction, it will canse thc pawl toslip back over the ratchet-teeth the same as in an ordinary ratchet-brace, at the same time that thc stock may be moved to any desired angle with reference to the spindle a, er, in ether words, with regard to lthc axis of the ratchet A, the pawl ,g following the longitudinal curvature of the teeth of the ratchet and thus keeping in gear therewith.

',lhe ratchet-brace, as thus constructed, may be used in substantially the same manner as the ordinary ratchet-lnaee, except that inasmuch as the stock B is capable of turning the ratchet A at whatever angle the said stock may be with regard to the spindle of the ratchet, as hercinbeforc fully explained, with as great facility and effectiveness as if the movements of the stock were confined to a plane at right angles to thc axis ofthe ratchet, as in the common brace, it may be used for many purposes and under many circumstances where the employment of an ordinary brace would be entirely inadmissible.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by 'Letters Patent, islhe spherical ratchet A, in combination with the socket e and pawl y, substantially as described.

WILLIAM BROWN.

Witnesses:

A. Ln Canne, G. W. llrrn. 

